Northampton Saints seal partnership Shurtape

Northampton Saints have sealed a new partnership with Shurtape UK, who have become the Club’s Official DIY Tape Partner.

Shurtape is a leading manufacturer and marketer of adhesive tape, as well as consumer home and office products, including T-REX Tape, FrogTape and Duck Tape.

T-REX will be the lead brand for the partnership, with permanent in-stadium branding appearing on the front of the Terraces in the Carlsberg Stand at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens ahead of Saints’ exhibition match against the Barbarians last weekend.

The new relationship will also see Saints’ Grounds and Maintenance teams rely on Shurtape’s products around Northampton’s stadium, training facilities and commercial offices.

“We’re thrilled to have secured a new partnership with Shurtape,” said Northampton Saints’ Head of Commercial Partnerships, Ulundi Makhanya.

“Shurtape’s products are found across the world, with the company based in the United Kingdom, United States, South America, Middle East, Nordic Region, Asia and Australasia.

“With our track record of building meaningful and long-term relationships with all our partners, we’re confident this will be a partnership that sticks!”

T-REX’s range of tapes are designed for those moments in life when you need intense holding power – no matter the application. Whether you’re looking for around-the-house fixes or industrial scale repairs, with a selection of duct, packaging, clear repair, mounting and waterproof tapes, there’s no project too big or small for T-REX’s ferociously strong products.

“We are delighted to become the official DIY Tape Partner of Northampton Saints, who’s players push the limits of extreme performance in every single match,” says Jason Burns, Managing Director at Shurtape UK Ltd.

“As a technologically advanced tape, T-REX Tape is also known for pushing the limits in both adhesion strength and hold. Northampton Saints are the perfect team to help bring the strong qualities of the tape to life, and we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership.”

Liverpool extend partnership with Weston Corporation

Liverpool FC has extended its partnership with Weston Corporation, the club’s official retail partner in Singapore, for a further five years.

Weston Corporation is Singapore’s premier football store, and currently operates LFC standalone stores at Bugis Junction and Queensway Centre, along with branded shop-in-shop locations off and online.  

Reds fans in the region are able to access official club merchandise and the latest Nike jerseys and training kits. The store fit at both locations mirrors retail spaces in Liverpool – featuring a Champions Wall, mock-up of the players’ dressing room and a copy of the Shankly Gates.  

Recent in-store events have included a signing session with Mona Nemmer and her book A Taste of the Liverpool Way, performance from Jamie Webster during the LFC summer tour, and meet and greet with legend Sami Hyypia.

Mike Cox, senior vice-president for merchandising at Liverpool FC, said: “It’s great to continue working with Weston Corporation. We have a growing fanbase in Singapore and working with Weston Corporation we can offer fans exclusive club merchandise on a local level.  

“I’ve been able to see first-hand how passionate our fanbase is here, and as one of the world’s premier shopping destinations it’s an exciting opportunity for the club to continue connecting with supporters in the region.”

Rajbir Chopra, sales director at Weston Corporation, added: “Weston Corporation is a key player in the football and sports retail industry in Asia, and we are excited to be offered the opportunity to extend our current retail relationship with Liverpool FC, and the opportunity to bring both official merchandise and the Anfield experience to the fans in Singapore.”

Michael Payne awarded Pierre de Coubertin Medal in Lausanne

Michael Payne, former Director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and long-time Olympic commentator, has been awarded, by the IOC, the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin Medal at a special ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Created in 1997, the Pierre de Coubertin Medal is awarded by the IOC as a tribute to educators, writers, sports executives, cultural figures, corporate leaders, athletes and individuals who deliver exceptional services to the Olympic Movement and carry out achievements in the cause of world sport. Previous recipients of the award, which has only been awarded 42 times, include Emil Zátopek, Gianni Agnelli, Henry Kissinger, Juan Antonio Samaranch and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

As the IOC’s first ever Marketing and Broadcast Rights Director, Michael led the global marketing effort of the Olympic Movement for more than two decades, from 1983 to 2004, and has continued to advise corporations and sports bodies.

More recently, Michael, a collector of political cartoons, told the extraordinary story behind the modern Olympic Games through 1,200 Olympic-themed cartoons, accompanied by a personal 100,000-word commentary, in a one-of-a-kind, 500 page coffee table book, “Toon In!”.

IOC Vice-President Ser Miang Ng, who presented the award on behalf of IOC President Thomas Bach, said:

“You have dedicated your life to sport – and to the Olympic Movement. It was at the IOC, where you became the first-ever Marketing Director, when your passion for sports and marketing combined. Even after you left the IOC, you remained close to the Olympic Movement. 

“But why we are here today, is not because all of this, but because of your irreverent sense of humour, which found its creative outlet with Toon In!, collecting 1,200 cartoons about the Olympics. This is an outstanding contribution to Olympism, which was described by Pierre de Coubertin as philosophy of life and a link between sport and culture.

“In recognition of your outstanding achievements in the cause of world sport and your faithfulness to the Olympic ideal as illustrated by Pierre de Coubertin, renovator of the Olympic Games, it is an honour and pleasure to present you the Pierre de Coubertin Medal. You are the first recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin Medal, inscribed with the new Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter.”

Speaking after becoming the first-ever British-Irish recipient of the award, Michael Payne said:

“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award, and when I look at some of the past recipients, honestly don’t feel worthy – but thank you, thank you for this great honour.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my professional life to serve the Olympic Movement now for close to four decades, and my next thanks of appreciation goes to all my Olympic friends, many with us tonight, who share the same passion for the power of the Olympic rings to unite and help the world to celebrate humanity. Thank you for your guidance and friendship, and trust when I turn up with some crazy marketing idea

Global Boxing Forum to discuss IBA’s place in the Olympics

Ensuring Sound Opportunities for Athletes and IBA’s Place in the Olympic Games is the overarching theme of the Global Boxing Forum taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Fruitful discussions amongst boxing stakeholders are set to take place on December 10-11 at the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers.

The athlete-first principle has been a foundation of the IBA Governance for the last two years. To achieve this, IBA has been working on a variety of development programs across multiple continents and has allocated prize money for its tournaments. IBA President Umar Kremlev established direct contact between athletes and management to understand their needs better. In addition, the IBA Athletes Committee was re-elected this year with its Chair Lovlina Borgohain from India and its member from Brazil, Abner Teixeira being represented on the IBA Board of Directors playing an active role in the decision-making process.

President Kremlev said, ‘The Global Boxing Forum is a unique opportunity to bring our boxing family together, discuss our challenges and find the necessary solutions. I expect a lot of innovative and insightful ideas to be voiced and recommendations to be made.’

Esteemed guests and champions from many countries around the world will be present at the 3rd Annual Global Boxing Forum.

Sport and Athlete First Leadership, Boxing Development on the Five Continents, IBA and Professional Boxing Collaboration, Athlete Health, and Safe Sport, Esports and Digital Transformations, and How Boxing Achieved Gender Equality will be some of the topics discussed during the Global Boxing Forum keynotes, panel sessions, seminars, and round-table discussions.

The Global Boxing Forum will be crowned by a spectacular boxing show, marking a new milestone for the International Boxing Association. The IBA Pro Series, the first of its kind, will become a unique and entertaining format of competitions for athletes and spectators. The best of the best boxers are to participate in 7 fights. The format of the event will be bouts boxed over 5, 3-minute rounds for the male select, and 5, 2-minute rounds for the female select.

FIFA announce record-breaking viewing figures

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is continuing to engage TV audiences around the world with record-breaking numbers across multiple markets.

In Asia, the group game between Japan and Costa Rica on Sunday 27 November drew an average audience of 36.37 million viewers. This surpassed the audience of their incredible comeback against Germany in their tournament opener by over 10 million and was 74% higher than the average domestic group stage audience during the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

On Thursday 24 November in Korea Republic, 11.14 million people watched their tournament opener against Uruguay. The broadcast saw a 97% increase in TV audience compared to the average for group stage matches at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014; 18% higher than at Russia 2018.

Fans in Europe have also been tuning in for the second round of group stage matches in great numbers

On Sunday 28 November, 65% of people watching TV in Spain saw La Roja take on Germany in one of the most anticipated games of the tournament so far. 11.9 million was the combined audience across coverage on La1 and GOL MUNDIAL, exceeding the audience of any group stage game for the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

Incredibly, over three quarters (76.6%) of all people watching TV in the Netherlands witnessed Cody Gakpo’s wonder strike in their 1-1 draw with Ecuador. This was the highest TV audience in the country in 2022 and greater than any match during the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

In France, Les Bleus’ encounter with Denmark, was broadcast on TF1. Averaging an audience of 11.6 million viewers, the programme audience peaked in the closing minutes of the match as 14.56 million watched Kylian Mbappe score a late winner. This was the highest peak of the tournament in France so far, beating 14 million viewers during France’s opening match against Australia.

Portugal’s match with Uruguay on Monday 28 November was the highest TV audience in Portugal for a FIFA World Cup match ever. In total, 5.35 million viewers in Portugal watched at least one minute of coverage as the team progressed to the knockout stages. The coverage held an audience share of 69.5% as A Seleção got their second win in as many games at the tournament. Over 80% of the Portuguese TV landscape has now watched at least one minute of the tournament’s coverage.

In addition, interest in the beautiful game in the United States continues to grow with new records continuously being broken.

The English-language coverage of USA’s encounter with England on Friday 25 November was the most watched men’s football match on US television ever, with a peak audience of 19.65 million viewers on FOX. NBC-Universal’s Spanish-language coverage of the match on Telemundo was the second-most watched FIFA World Cup Group Stage match featuring a United States team in Spanish-language history.

The following day, as Argentina and Mexico met in a crucial Group C tie, the Telemundo broadcast in the US was the most-watched FIFA World Cup Group Stage match in Spanish-language history in the country, and the second largest of any stage, ever.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, coverage of the same match delivered a national audience of 20.96 million viewers. The combined share across three channels broadcasting the game was 67.9%. This was higher than the top combined rating in the territory for any match of the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

In addition, the average audience in Canada for their make-or-break tie with Croatia was 4.33 million, with a share of 68.4%. This was 17% higher than Canada’s opening match and 12% higher than the top combined audience in the territory for the 2018 tournament. 

Passion for the game in South America knows no bounds with fans as engaged as ever.

In Argentina, the average audience for the two-time winners of the FIFA World Cup in their pivotal match with Mexico was 8.48 million; delivering an amazing audience share of 81.3%. The programme audience was the highest of the tournament so far in the country and 5% higher than both their first match against Saudi Arabia, and the average audience for their group stage matches during the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Roundtable Roundup: Acquisition v Retention

“Different sports with different demographics require different approaches for both retention and acquisition”

This was one of the key learnings to come out of the iSportConnect Roundtable on How To Optimise Revenues From Premium & Partnership last week. 

The discussion at the event, held at Queensland House in London, centred around the ongoing battle of sports organisations to retain partners and fans while acquiring new ones. Ned Coten, CEO of EngageRM, and Tim Barber, the company’s Global Commercial Director, were thought leaders in a lively and very open discussion featuring leading sports rights owners.

“At the end of the day people want to be part of a tribe”

Making partners not only feel valued but ‘part of your tribe’ is a vital part of partner retention. You need to make sure they feel valued and appreciated. Every partner is different. Retention is all about knowing and understanding your partners.

“You have to have a good knowledge of who is in your database because potential partners are hiding in there”

This was an eye-opening point. Clubs and governing bodies have piles of information on their fans. But understanding your database and then using it to your advantage is a challenge, and the most valuable work still probably needs to done manually. Attendees agreed that there are few if any organisations out there that can say they are well and truly on top of their data. 

One club admitted that they approached a company about a partnership only to find out later much to their chagrin that the CEO was in their database as one of their season ticket-holders.

A mass participation company said that it was only after putting on a race for a charity they had a dive into their database and found that they had senior figures at some of the world’s biggest banks taking part in their races. The phrase ‘sitting on a gold mine’ springs to mind.

“Find the people who love your sport, then find the ones among them who have money for partnerships – not the other way around”

When looking to acquire new partners many organisations target companies with money and then try to convince them to invest in their sport. Ned of EngageRM recommended that instead, you should search for the people who are already emotionally invested in your sport and your team and then from there find those with deeper pockets. If people already have a connection, it’s easier to get them financially engaged as well.

“Web3 presents a great opportunity for partner acquisition”

Web3 gives clubs the chance to strengthen their relationships with fans around the world who cannot attend in person by giving them value through digital assets. 

Adding a Web3 dimension to some current partnership packages might not work so well for traditional partners looking for a tried-and-tested route to ROI. But if the aim is to attract a new type of partners, then an NFT or a metaverse experience can add a lot of value to packages. 

Attendees agreed that the potential for Web3 has barely been scratched so far.

To find out more about the work EngageRM do, click here

FIBA announce U17 and U19 World Cups host from 2024 to 2026

Following the candidatures received for the FIBA U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups for both men and women, FIBA’s Central Board has confirmed the hosts of the upcoming Youth World Cups. 

The multi-year hosting model, introduced by FIBA in 2019, enables National Federations to host consecutive Youth World Cups, both U17 and U19 men’s and women’s. This model was put in place in order to maximize synergies and better organize and manage events while allowing National Federations to showcase their event-hosting capabilities at the world stage.

Below are the confirmed hosts for the U17 and U19 World Cups for both men and women taking place in 2024, 2025 and 2026:

FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024
Host: Turkish Basketball Federation       
Dates: June 29 to July 7
 
FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2024
Host: Mexican Basketball Federation
Dates: July 13 to 21
 
FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025
Host: Swiss Basketball
Dates: June 28 to July 6
 
FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2025
Host: Czech Basketball Federation
Dates: July 12 to 20
 
FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026
Host: Turkish Basketball Federation
Dates: June 27 to July 5
 
FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026
Host: Czech Basketball Federation
Dates: July 11 to 19
 
FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2027
Host: Czech Basketball Federation
Dates: June 26 to July 4

One of FIBA’s long-term strategic objectives is to ‘Develop Youth Basketball’, with the aim of enhancing development opportunities for young players, coaches and National Federations, and for the first time ever, Mexico and Switzerland have been awarded hosts of a FIBA world-level event. 

The 2023 U19 World Cups were awarded in 2020 and 2021 and are set to take place in Madrid for the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023 from July 15 to 23 and in Debrecen for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup from June 24 to July 2. 

Olympic champion Sandor Totka will compete at ICF Virtual World Cup next month

Tokyo canoe sprint Olympic champion Sandor Totka will be one of the athletes to catch when the ICF hosts its first Virtual World Cup next month.

Totka issued the challenge to paddlers all over the world to take him on in the 2000 metre virtual race, which will be held online on December 17. Competitors will use the latest cutting edge technology to measure their progress against opponents located in loungerooms, garages and gymnasiums around the world.

Hungary’s Totka stormed to Olympic gold in the men’s 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, claiming the scalp of Great Britain’s reigning Olympic champion, Liam Heath, along the way. In the lead-up to Tokyo Totka also won European gold.

“The virtual world cup is an exciting new format, and I can’t wait to take on paddlers from all over the world,” Totka said.

“2000 metres is not really my ideal distance, so there will be a good chance for paddlers to really challenge me. And I know that because I am the Olympic champion, everyone will want to beat me.”

The virtual world cup will offer opportunities for individual races in three categories – junior, senior and masters 40+ – for both men and women. There will also be races for men’s and women’s paracanoe. Each race will have a cut-off of 15 minutes.

The ICF has partnered with world-leading ergo manufacturer KayakPro to ensure the competition offers the best possible athlete experience. Competitors will need access to a KayakPro machine, and the cutting edge Genesis Port Bluetooth Smart Console. Athletes who don’t have the console may qualify for an ICF donation.

Competitors will also need to be able to film their performance, to be part of the ICF livestream program.

Entry to the event costs just EU 5. Registration closes December 7, and a trial competition run will be held for interested participants on December 15.

GAISF dissolved at EGM in Lausanne

The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) was dissolved yesterday at the organisations Extraordinary General Meeting in Lausanne.

The organisation’s President Ivo Ferriani believes that this is a “step forward towards a better future for sport”.

The decision was decided by a vote secured more than a two thirds majority, with 70 people voting in favour and and just 22 against.

It was agreed that the GSAIF’s total assets of £4.9 million will be transferred over to SportAccord with 79 voting in favour and 11 against.

Ivo Ferriarni said: “Now we can move forward and build a stronger entity under SportAccord though the representation of the umbrella organisation.

“Today we are taking the right decision for the future of GAISF and, more importantly, the future of the global sporting community.

“This is a key step towards a better future and we are taking this step together.

“Most of the services once provided by GAISF are now provided by other bodies as was the case with the anti-doping to the International Testing Agency,” said Ferriani.

“The underlining business operation of the GAISF has been loss making over recent years and there is considerable doubt regarding its future financial stability.

“GAISF does not have the expertise in its staff to successfully organise a multi-sport event.”

World Table Tennis unveils first half of events calendar for 2023

World Table Tennis on Wednesday 30th November unveiled the first half of its events calendar for the 2023 season of WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series.

The calendar promises a year of firsts as the WTT Series kicks off in January with WTT Contender Durban. It will be the first time a WTT Series event will be staged in the Republic of South Africa. All eyes will remain on Durban as the city is set to host the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in May. Africa continues to be a hotspot for the 2023 calendar as Nigeria will host WTT Contender Lagos in June, a first for the country, followed by the third edition of WTT Contender Tunis.

The first half of the year will also bring a return of a blockbuster event. Singapore hosted the first ever Grand Smash event in 2022, marking the start of a grand new legacy for table tennis. This legacy continues to unfold next year as Singapore Smash 2023 will set the Lion City alight once again, promising an even bigger and better event for players and fans. Building on 2022 momentum continues to be a key theme in the latest calendar.

While Doha and Zagreb will host a WTT event for the third and second consecutive year respectively, maiden hosts round out the first half of the 2023 calendar, adding momentum to the international growth of table tennis. WTT Star Contender Goa and WTT Star Contender Bangkok brings the series to India and Thailand for the first time while WTT Contender Amman introduces the global series to Jordan.

WTT Star Contender Ljubljana embodies the growth of the sport. The capital of Slovenia hosts a WTT event for the first time after the country successfully delivered several WTT Feeder and Contender events in regional cities over the past years.

Click here to download the 2023 WTT Series calendar and the WTT Feeder Series calendar.

Liu Guoliang, Chair of World Table Tennis Board, commented, “World Table Tennis’s future shines ever brighter in 2023, further demonstrating the global influence of this sport we love. I hope more cities around the world, especially those beyond the traditional powerhouses, will play host to WTT events, experience the charm of table tennis through that and ultimately attract more people to participate in the sport. This has always been our most fundamental goal.”

The WTT events structure provides the perfect showcase for both athletes and fans. The event tiers exhibit and highlight the phenomenal talent of world-class table tennis stars in a fresh, dynamic and entertainment-driven settings.

At the top is the WTT Series, the official professional table tennis series of events, with the world’s best table tennis players facing off in events of different levels:

WTT Contender and WTT Star Contender events, designed to mix global stars, national heroes and rising stars across Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed competitions.

WTT Champions events, featuring high-octane action with the 32 best men’s and women’s singles players

WTT Grand Smashes, the foundation of the WTT Series and the pillars of the season, bringing two-week-long thrills with the best 128 Men’s and Women’s Singles players as well as Doubles and mixed doubles action.

WTT Cup Finals, one prestigious event at the end of the season, held separately for men and women, with the best of the best only

Under the WTT Series, the WTT Feeder Series serves as a critical stepping-stone bringing together a mix of the world’s up and coming stars, local and regional heroes, players fighting to return to the WTT Series due to form or returning from career breaks. WTT Feeder Series events are driven by player participation with up to 400 players to deliver international competitive table tennis with grassroots and community activation. In the first half of 2023, WTT Feeder Series events will be hosted in Doha, Amman, Düsseldorf, and Antalya.

The WTT Youth Series is where it all begins. Forming an important part of the WTT events pyramid, it establishes the playing pathway and journey from day one to World No.1. The 2023 events calendar of WTT Youth Series was announced in October with an record number of events organised in every corner of the world.

Steve Dainton, ITTF Group CEO, commented, “The first two years of World Table Tennis provided a learning experience, and more importantly a launchpad for the future growth that begins now. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede, the calendar for World Table Tennis will continue to grow. Providing a worldwide, cutting-edge experience is the goal of World Table Tennis, and this year will show just how we much we can deliver.”

The first half of the year sends the WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series across three continents for more than 15 events; but that’s just the beginning. Players and fans can look forward to the series landing in the Americas, Europe and Asia in the second half of 2023, creating a truly global series. Champions events will also be touching down in new locations around the world and a second Grand Smash will be unveiled, rounding out an action-packed 2023 WTT Series calendar. The stage will then be set for players to chase World Ranking points in a bid to qualify for the season ending WTT Cup Finals and pursue the top honour of closing out the season as the year-end World No.1.